Testun llawn:
- School Places;
It is my understanding that the children from traveller communities will be given a higher priority with regards to the allocation of school places and this is a concern that the schools in the proposed areas would be unable to cope with any potential increase.
This is two-fold. Firstly, with the projected school intakes for 2015, 2016 based on the birth rates in the area and secondly, taking into account the large extensions to family estates such as Chase Meadow where it is not possible to estimate the additional places required.
- GP Access;
Living on Chase Meadow, I know how difficult and stretched the GP Surgery (The New Dispensary) is and my concern is that this surgery can not cope with the number of additional patients that the proposed sites may house.
- Access
The consultation document fails to address the issue of access to the proposed site simply stating 'Advice expected from WCC soon'. However unless Severn Trent Water are willing to provide access to the site across their land (which they have indicated they would not) then the current narrow farm track leading to the site from Longbridge would be totally inadequate. The Government's own guidelines on planning Gypsy and Traveller sites set some very strict guidelines around access, particularly for Emergency Vehicles.
- Infrastructure;
Chase Meadow is largely unadopted by the council and it already suffers with issues surrounding speeding on the estate and leading to and from the estate. My concern is the additional traffic flowing through the chase meadow estate and the need to police the speed limits on the unadopted roads.
- Air, Water and Soil Quality
The Council's own Sustainability Assessment identified this as 'potential major negative effect'. They have suggested that these issues could be 'mitigated' but have provided little further detail and clearly a site located very close to a sewage works and a busy motorway is likely to have issues with all 3 and therefore is not suitable for a permanent residential development, particularly one where children will live.
- Flood Risk
The 'Sustainability Agreement' indicated a 'minor negative effect'. Nevertheless they have confirmed that the site is on a designated flood plain within flood zones 2 and 3.
- Effect on the local Economy
The Sustainability Assessment this section is graded as '?' and the supporting commentary states that 'the effect on the economy is uncertain at this stage'. Furthermore the Consultation Documentation makes no mention of the potential effect of the site on the local economy in its criteria at all! Given that the Tournament Fields business park remains largely undeveloped after almost 10 years and the likely effect on future demand if a Gypsy and Traveller site is opened opposite to it, this clearly suggests that the Council is trying to avoid the whole issue of the negative effect on the local economy that the proposed site could have.
- Aesthetics of the Warwickshire countryside.
The Stratford Road is the main route access into Warwick for tourists. Warwick is such a beautiful and historic town for which tourists travel to visit annually. Having seen a number of traveller sites over recent years and months, the risk to the tourism economy for Warwick has to be taken seriously.